Look! It's the new cover for the KMWC paperback, out next month. I'm rather hoping you've bought a copy by now *looks you all in the eye* but if you need a present for a friend for under a tenner? Voila. Also, I'm back on The Alan Titchmarsh Show every Friday from tomorrow and, it being the show before Burns Night, I jig onto stage wearing a kilt. Seriously. This week, I get to sip cherry brandy with Lorraine Pascale whilst scoffing her homemade white chocolate & cherry torte. Along with Sister Monica Joan from Call the Midwife. Like a parallel universe, I tell you.

Now, as much as I love Italian whites, some of them can be just a bit samey. Not so this one, made from the Pecorino grape in the Abruzzo region in central Italy. It's all waxy lemon, apples and pears and is the most Spring-like of wines (I'm looking ahead, obviously). Now, I have just checked this online and it is showing as out of stock but there's some in the shops and more on the way. I swear I didn't drink it all. I had a glass before my zen-like bowl of miso soup. My body's (almost) a temple.

Current red in the rack: Heredad del Rey Reservada, £7.49 on offer, Waitrose

Like Rioja, this is from Spain and like (most) Rioja it has been aged in oak but we're talking a different grape and region here. Monastrell and Syrah (grapes) and Yecla (region) to be precise, in southeast Spain. It's a big softie with black cherry and spice. The Monastrell grape is also known as Mourvedre and tends to produce fairly tannic wines. Easily tamed by drinking it whilst chowing down on a big plate of sausages and mash.